Troposphere. This is the lowest part of the atmosphere - the part we live in.

we live in. It contains most of our weather - clouds, rain, snow. In this part of the atmosphere the temperature gets colder as the distance above the earth increases, by about 6.5 C per kilometre. This change of temperature with height varies from day to day, depending on the weather. The troposphere contains about 75% of all of the air in the atmosphere, and almost all of the water vapour (which forms clouds and rain). The decrease in temperature with height is a result of the decreasing pressure. If a parcel of air moves upwards it expands (because of the lower pressure). When air expands it cools. So air higher up is cooler than air lower down. The top of the troposphere is called the tropopause. This is lowest at the poles, where it is about 5 km above the earth's surface. It is highest (about 16 km) near the equator.